Otto's blog

Gifu Teragoya Christmas Party

12月

11日

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On Saturday night Gifu Teragoya had its Christmas party around the corner at a restaurant called Bar Sabio. It`s a Spanish restaurant, so I ate a lot of delicious Spanish food. I also talked to a lot of students, & drank a lot of Sapporo beer. It`s* been a while (= 久しぶり) since I drank Sapporo beer, but it`s a suitable beer for Christmas I think, because it has a big star on its label. Do you know why a star is put at the top of a Christmas tree? It`s because some wise men ("magi") who visited baby Jesus used a big star to locate him. It`s a kind of GPS. MagiPS...?

Spelling:
- its = それの
- it`s = sore...desu OR *it has

Ibigawa Camping

11月

20日

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Have you ever been to Ibigawa Town? It`s famous for its annual marathon. Although there aren`t many famous sights (見物) in the area, there is nice scenery (景色) & a couple of free campsites. I chose one by the Kasu River. I thought I would be the only person there, as it is so late in the year, & it was a weekday (平日), but I was surprised to see that there were a few other people camping there too. This campsite must be packed (=very crowded) in summer! But if you want to go: https://www.town.ibigawa.lg.jp/kankoujyouhou/0000006141.html

Vocabulary
- site = 所 / 敷地 / 用地, --> campsite = キャンプ場 , construction site = 建設地, world heritage site = 世界遺産, website
- sight = 光景, --> sightseeing = 観光

Frankenstein Costume

10月

23日

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For this year`s Teragoya halloween kids party, I dressed as Frankenstein. I`m pretty skinny, so I put socks under the shoulders of my old 90s suit jacket (I knew it would come in handy one day) to look more muscly.

By pulling a handy wire inside my jacket, I could open my 'head' (a black, hairy bucket) to reveal a bloody styrofoam brain. When I did that, most people laughed, but some kids cried.

For my craft activity, kids put felt shapes onto a blank green Frankenstein face. When they finished, I picked it up & put it on a body, like a scarecrow, & we took photos in front of it. I like the design above - it has a cheeky smile.

Vocabulary
You can make various adjectives by combining '[body part] + y':
skin 皮膚 skinny 細い
muscle 筋肉 muscly 筋肉隆々の
hand 手 handy 便利な
hair 髪 hairy 毛だらけの
brain 脳 brainy 利口な
blood 血 bloody 血塗れの
nose 鼻 nosy 詮索好きな、おせっかいな
cheek 頬 cheeky 生意気な

Live Jazz at Pannonica

10月

16日

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When ex-Teragoya teacher Paul told me about this jazz performance, I knew right away* that I wanted to go. However I didn`t know the place - Pannonica. Anyway, it`s right* next to Gifu Don Quijote (ドン・キホーテ), on the right**. Convenient location, right***? I went right* after work on Saturday evening, with a couple of friends. We had a good time.

Thank you Paul & Nagoya Union Church (http://nagoyaunionchurch.com/) for sponsoring such a cool event!

* 直ぐ
** 右
*** correct

Loaded Lime Tree

10月

11日

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This year my lime tree is loaded (満載) with fruit. I think I will use them to make lemon delicious pudding: https://en.bloguru.com/otto/98690/recipe-lemon-delicious-pudding

I wish I was loaded (= rich)...

Seki Knife Festival

10月

9日

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On Sunday I went to the Seki City knife festival for the first time. Of course there were a lot of stalls selling various kinds of knives, but there were also food stalls between the knife stalls, which was a little strange to me; Kitchen knives... Outdoor knives... Candy apples... Gardening tools... Kitchen knives... Choco-bananas... Folding knives... Samurai swords... Shaved Ice... etc. It was hard for me to look at knives because my kids kept begging (願う) me to buy food that they could see.

Anyway, it was pretty interesting, & we had a good time. I recommend going.

Vocabulary:
- fold: 畳む, 折る Folding knife: 折りたたみナイフ, Folding bike: 折りたたみ自転車

Scarecrow

10月

6日

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What do you think of this scarecrow? Are you scared? I guess it`s a little scary, but it`s also pretty funny. Sometimes I feel like this when I wake up.

scare: 脅かす crow: 烏 scarecrow: 鳥威し
scared: 怖じる
scary: 怖い

Recycled Wood Collection Frame

9月

14日

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I sold a few things at our school craft event last Saturday - frames, puzzles, display cases. I sold this frame to my workmate, James. The original price was ¥2,400. James said he liked it. I told him to make an offer. He said, "¥1,500?"
I said, "Okay!"

Well haggled (値切る), James.

He said he would use it to display some small stones & other objects that he has.

Grammar:
- He said... OK
- He told me... OK
- He said me... WRONG

1972 Nissan Cedric GL

8月

29日

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I took (連れて行った) my kids to the local Book Off to buy plastic train rails. They wanted to take (持っていく) their toys home quickly & play with them, but I told them to wait while I took (取った) a photo of this car in the car yard next-door. If you want to take a look at this car yourself, take Route 22 from Gifu to Ichinomiya. It`s on the right after you cross Route 151.

Shell Collection Display Case

8月

23日

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I made this display case for my shell collection. No, not seashells (貝殻) - these are shotgun shells! I found some on the beach & a couple in the forest. I think they look good displayed like this. If you would like to see (& buy?) this case & my other recycled wood creations, please come to Gifu Teragoya`s craft event on September 1.

Shall I give you a link to the details? Okay. Here you are:
https://jp.bloguru.com/teragoya-gifu/331353/2018-08-21

Vocabulary:
- shell: 殻, 砲丸, 甲殻, etc.
- shall I...? shall we...? = ましょうか?
- shall you/he/she/they...? WRONG